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Empathy Map Example: Small Business Owner

The owner of a six-person services business deciding whether to adopt new accounting software.

This map is built from five interviews with owners of businesses between four and ten people, all considering the same category of software.

The most useful thing on it is the gap between says and thinks. They say the decision is about price; they think it is about not looking foolish in front of their accountant. Sales copy aimed at the first misses the actual objection.

Open this canvas in the editor
1

Says

  • "I just need something that works, I'm not technical"
  • "How much is it per month?"
  • "My accountant has to be able to use it too"
  • "I don't have time to move everything over"
  • "The last one we tried was a nightmare"
2

Thinks

  • "If this migration goes wrong it's on me"
  • "I don't really understand what half these features do"
  • "Everyone else seems to have this sorted already"
  • "Is the cheap one cheap for a reason?"
  • "I'd rather live with the current mess than break something"
3

Does

  • Evaluates software late at night, after the working day
  • Asks two peers in a WhatsApp group before reading any website
  • Starts a free trial, does not finish setup, forgets about it
  • Keeps a parallel spreadsheet as insurance
  • Defers the decision until the year end forces it
4

Feels

  • Anxious at year end, when errors become visible
  • Frustrated at repeating the same manual reconciliation monthly
  • Embarrassed about not understanding the finance vocabulary
  • Relieved when the accountant says everything is fine
  • Proud of running a business that pays people on time
5

Pains

  • No time to evaluate properly — decisions happen at 10pm
  • Fear of a migration that loses historical data
  • Cannot judge which features they actually need
  • Accountant charges extra to work with unfamiliar systems
  • Burned once already by a tool that was abandoned
6

Gains

  • Never think about bookkeeping between month ends
  • Accountant says 'this is clean' without follow-up questions
  • Setup finished in an evening, not a fortnight
  • One number they can trust when deciding whether to hire
  • Stop maintaining the insurance spreadsheet

What this canvas reveals

  • Says price, thinks risk. Price is the socially acceptable objection; the real one is fear of a botched migration.
  • The 'does' block shows a person with no evaluation time at all — anything requiring a week of setup has already lost.
  • The strongest gain is not saving money, it is never thinking about this again. That is what the proposition should promise.

Block by block

1Says

  • "I just need something that works, I'm not technical"
  • "How much is it per month?"
  • "My accountant has to be able to use it too"
  • "I don't have time to move everything over"
  • "The last one we tried was a nightmare"

2Thinks

  • "If this migration goes wrong it's on me"
  • "I don't really understand what half these features do"
  • "Everyone else seems to have this sorted already"
  • "Is the cheap one cheap for a reason?"
  • "I'd rather live with the current mess than break something"

3Does

  • Evaluates software late at night, after the working day
  • Asks two peers in a WhatsApp group before reading any website
  • Starts a free trial, does not finish setup, forgets about it
  • Keeps a parallel spreadsheet as insurance
  • Defers the decision until the year end forces it

4Feels

  • Anxious at year end, when errors become visible
  • Frustrated at repeating the same manual reconciliation monthly
  • Embarrassed about not understanding the finance vocabulary
  • Relieved when the accountant says everything is fine
  • Proud of running a business that pays people on time

5Pains

  • No time to evaluate properly — decisions happen at 10pm
  • Fear of a migration that loses historical data
  • Cannot judge which features they actually need
  • Accountant charges extra to work with unfamiliar systems
  • Burned once already by a tool that was abandoned

6Gains

  • Never think about bookkeeping between month ends
  • Accountant says 'this is clean' without follow-up questions
  • Setup finished in an evening, not a fortnight
  • One number they can trust when deciding whether to hire
  • Stop maintaining the insurance spreadsheet